Which is how it is to be flown on a mast to show distress. (the Stars will always be on the mast side (as that's there the "holes" are to thread the flag). Really..google and basic deduction can be your friend.

The United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Statute 176, paragraph a states "The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property."

If state and federal governments do not stop spending money we do not have we will be in more distress than having to cut back on eating out.

Dose, you might want to consider denotation vs. connotation. Regardless of what the statute says, a large subset of the population will see this as disrespectful. And I hazard a guess that a large number of the protestors see it that way. That's what Professor Althouse alluded to, but you seemed to miss: when this same symbol was used in Vietnam War protests, it was consciously used as a sign of disrespect. She was there. She remembers.

Public opinion isn't swayed by definitional games nearly as much as it's swayed by image and symbols and connotations. This just looks bad.

But I'll cut some slack for the guys with their hands on it. When I saw it, it looked to me like they were holding it up, not leaning on it.

Nope. Your argument is that the flag is to be used that way when you are "distressed".

Nope - and re characterizing my argument is WHY that's a straw man.

@Martin: Fair point - I wasn't aware of it's prior use as intentional sign of disrespect. Still, a lot of this may depend on the INTENT of the of the one who hung the flag. It's also quite possible he's an idiot and just hung it upside down on accident.

Dose, connotation is in the eye of the beholder, not the intent of the presenter. Smart protestors play to the populace and the decision makers, not to the protestors; and they try to police their image to maximum effect. Somebody there should've looked at this and said, "Bad imagery, guys."

No. I assume it's a political statement -- a statement of disrespect for the United States.

No, the protesters are just totally pissed re: WI's Rep governor ~ kinda like the American revolutionaries were totally pissed w/King George III and showed him his due respect.

Coincidentally, the U.S. Constitution covers such doctrines as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and I may not agree w/said speech but I will fight to the death defending those ideals.

ok, that's a gross exaggeration/hyperbole like Ann's:

a statement of disrespect for the United States.

btw, many viewed the Vietnam War protest differently depending on their political end of the spectrum, eh ~ and as a USN veteran who voted for McGovern in '72 and was told by ailes/safire/agnew/nixon to "love America or leave it" unfortunately for conservatives, because I did indeed, love America, I stayed.

I think its offensive to show the flag in that manner while our sons and daughters are being ask to put their lives on the line to defend it in Iraq and Afghanistan.. not to mention that it is being done in the name of a wage dispute..

You would think the justification for that display would merit true distress.. a life threatening distress.. a wage dispute is not.

"Using the flag to signal distress as a function of free speech? Perhaps Wisconsin is the figurative ship?"

It's a choice to appropriate the symbol in a way that I don't think most Americans will appreciate. If you think otherwise, I think you are in a left-wing cocoon. Let's see what other commenters say.

Althouse, I think you're pretty left of me and I'm pretty much guaranteed to not reside in a left-wing cocoon. I agree it's used as a distress signal. Their salaries are in danger. You protest too much.

If you don't say something "out there" er outrageous/stupid no one pays any attention which leads to over-the-top nonsensical hyperbole

...Like, for example, suggesting that a former United States president will be arrested because of United States foreign policy if he enters historically neutral Switzerland? Sort of like that kind of stupid statement?

I see in the current emergency, the Professor loses her collective bargaining rights, too.

What a bunch of saps those teachers are, protesting to preserve Ann Althouse's collective bargaining rights. She doesn't need their help and never did.

If Walker terminates her, she can always get a good job at another, non-state law school. (Hiring will be frozen at the state schools). Or she can live on her pension, until another emergency comes up and Walker decides the state has to keep a lot of what she thought was her money. Or she can live off Meade's income.

Impact of proposed law: * COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. Make various changes to limit collective bargaining for most public employees to wages. Total wage increases could not exceed a cap based on the CPI unless approved by referendum. Contracts would be limited to one year and wages would be frozen until a new contract is settled. Collective bargaining units are required to take annual votes to maintain certification as a union. Employers would be prohibited from collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units would not be required to pay dues. Changes effective upon expiration of existing contracts. Law enforcement, fire employees and state troopers and inspectors would be exempt from the changes. * CAREER EXECUTIVE TRANSFERS. Allow state employees in the career executive positions to be reassigned between agencies upon agreement of agency heads. * LIMITED TERM EMPLOYEES. Prohibit LTEs from being eligible for health insurance or participation in the WRS. * STATE EMPLOYEE ABSENCES AND OTHER WORK ACTIONS. Authorizes appointing agencies to terminate any employees that are absent for three days without approval of the employer or any employees participating in an organized action to stop or slow work if the governor has declared a state of emergency. * QUALITY HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY. Repeals the authority of home health care workers under the Medicaid program to collectively bargain. * CHILD CARE LABOR RELATIONS. Repeals the authority of family child care workers to collectively bargain with the state. * UW HOSPITALS AND CLINICS BOARD AND AUTHORITY. Repeals collective bargaining for UWHC employees. State positions currently employed by the UWHC are eliminated and incumbents are transferred to the UWHC Authority. * UW FACULTY AND ACADEMIC STAFF. Repeals authority of UW faculty and academic staff to collectively bargain.

The funny thing, dude who says Bush is going to get arrested for war crimes, is that you don't have any idea how absurd and stupid you sound.

I love kooks like you, though. Tell us: Under which Swiss law would President Bush be charged? What government entity in Switzerland claims jurisdiction to make arrests in such matters? Which criminal court in Switzerland would hear such a case?

As I often argued back in the elder Bush days, if the flag doesn't stand for your right to burn the flag, then it doesn't stand for anything.

I think "distress" fits in with the theme of the protests (although you could argue that their real claim is either that there is no serious distress in the land or they should be exempt from the program to relieve that distress).

I'd be more bothered by this if it were unintentional, but if they meant to do it, fine.

And that guy in the picture casually propping himself up with his hand on the flag -- the one wearing a hat indoors -- no disrespect there, no sir! He's got distress written all over him. Poor, poor man . . .

"And by the way, if the Tea Partiers had determined to fill the capitol building and stop all activity, what would the media reaction have been."

Why the media would have stopped to presses to bring truth to power, to expose the tea partiers for what they are: fools with signs urging violence, signs illustrating the hanging of an elected official, heaps of trash left behind, misspelled signs, ignorant people exposed with loaded interview questions, signs everywhere of racism (see any black faces in those videos? see any black senior union officials?)

Maybe it was hung upside down by a plant who wanted to discredit the protesters.

If so, Peter, then the plant hung it upseide down, and all the thousands of other protestors were either (a) too stupid to notice; (2) too uneducated to recognize the issue, or (c) file with it. It's not like there's no one else there.

The flag represents distress. People may have different views and ways of defining distress, so it DOESN'T have to mean it's a life or death situation. So many things are on the line right now in Wisconsin. If this bills goes through, the education will suck. Look at the 5 states that don't have collective bargaining! They are the LAST 5 on the list for the quality of education in the U.S., while Wisconsin is #2 (tied with MN) and Iowa is #1. Get rid of it and BAM, we fall down the list big time. Wages will also be cut, meaning the working middle class will spend less and save more so they won't be stimulating the economy.

I can also assume that anyone that says hanging the American flag upside down is disrespectful and that it is not a sign of distress lives in one of those 5 states where education sucks [or else you would've known that], you feeble minded fools!! >.>